This creamy Tomato Basil Soup is loaded with hidden vegetables and is restaurant-quality DELICIOUS! You can make it on the stove, slow cooker or in the Instant Pot.
I love making soup for dinner because it’s so easy to make (and sneak those vegetables in to) and it’s easy to come up with things to serve with it, like an Italian Grilled Cheese Sandwich! Some of my other favorite soup recipes include: Broccoli Cheese Soup, Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, and Spicy Chicken Soup.
I have been in LOVE with this soup Tomato Basil Soup recipe for nearly a decade! I have a few different recipes for tomato soup on my site but this one is probably my favorite, and I love how it has veggies hidden inside it! It tastes great and is a little more nutritious than a typical creamy tomato soup. It tastes even better the next day if you want to make it in advance or enjoy meal prep leftovers in your fridge.
How to Make Tomato Basil Soup:
- Sauté the vegetables: Add the carrots, onion and celery to a pot with a little bit of oil and sauté them for a few minutes.
- Add: diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and basil. Bring to boil and cook for several minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
- Blend. Use an immersion blender or regular blender (you may need to do this in batches, depending on how big your blender is) and purée the soup until smooth. Return it to the soup pot.
- Make the roux: In a separate pot, add butter and melt on medium heat. Stir in the flour and whisk together constantly for about 10 minutes or until the roux is a nice golden brown color.
- Add the roux: Stir a big ladle full of soup into the roux-it will start to form a thick paste. Slowly add another 2-3 cups of warm soup to the roux, whisking it until smooth. Add the mixture to the soup pot and stir well to combine.
- Stir in parmesan cheese, half and half (or milk), and salt and pepper. Add additional oregano and fresh basil as desired, to taste. Stir well. Cook for a few more minutes until warmed through.
For Slow Cooker Tomato Soup:
- Add to slow cooker: diced tomatoes, carrots, onions, celery, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and basil.
- Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours until flavors are blended and vegetables are soft.
- Make the roux: About 30 minutes before the soup is ready, prepare a roux. Melt the butter over medium low heat in a skillet and add the flour. Whisk together constantly for about 10 minutes or until the roux is a nice golden brown color.
- Thicken soup. Slowly add 1 cup of the soup from the slow cooker to the roux–it will start to form a thick paste. Slowly add another 3 cups of warm soup to the roux. Whisk together until smooth. Add the roux mixture to the slow cooker and stir to combine.
- Blend: Pour soup into blender (you may need to do this in batches, depending on how big your blender is) Purée until smooth. Return to the slow cooker.
- Stir in the Parmesan cheese, half and half (or milk), and salt and pepper. Add additional oregano and basil if needed, to taste. Stir well.
- Finish cooking. Cover and cook on low for another 20-30 minutes or until warm.
You can also make Tomato Basil Soup in the Instant Pot!
Storing and Freezing Instructions:
- Store tomato basil soup covered, in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
- Freeze: To properly freeze this soup, leave out the cream and shredded cheese before freezing it. Then add the cream and cheese after reheating. (Otherwise they may curdle when reheated from frozen.)
Serve tomato Basil Soup with:
You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST for more great recipes!
Recipe
Creamy Tomato Basil Soup
This creamy Tomato Basil Soup is restaurant-quality DELICIOUS and it's loaded with hidden vegetables.
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes , with the juice
- 2 carrots , finely diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 small onion , finely diced (about 1 cup)
- 3 ribs celery , finely diced (about 1 cup)
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1½ cups half and half (or whole milk)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Instructions
- Add oil to a large soup pot over medium high heat. Once hot, add carrots, onions, and celery and sauté them for a few minutes.
- Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and dried basil. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for several minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
- Use an immersion blender or regular blender (you may need to do this in batches, depending on how big your blender is) to puree the soup until smooth. (This step is optional, if you like a smooth soup). Return it to the soup pot.
- In a separate pot, prepare the roux. Add butter to the pot over medium low heat and allow to melt. Stir in the flour and whisk together constantly for about 10 minutes or until the roux is a nice golden brown color.
- Add a big ladle full of the soup to the roux--it will start to form a thick paste. Add a few more big scoops of soup to the roux and stir well until smooth. Add the roux mixture to soup pot and stir to combine.
- Stir in the parmesan cheese, half and half, salt, pepper and basil. Add additional oregano and basil if needed, to taste. Stir well. Cook for a few more minutes until warmed through.
- Store tomato basil soup covered in the refrigerator for up to one week.
- Try it served in a yummy homemade bread bowl!
Notes
Slow Cooker: Add diced tomatoes, carrots, onions, celery, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and basil to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 5-6 hours until flavors are blended and vegetables are soft. Continue with step three of the above recipe.
Or make it in the Instant Pot.
Freezer Instructions: To properly freeze this soup, leave out the cream and shredded cheese before freezing it. Then add the cream and cheese after reheating. (Otherwise they may curdle when reheated from frozen.)
Nutrition
Calories: 264kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 7gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 55mgSodium: 1095mgPotassium: 326mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 3445IUVitamin C: 12.5mgCalcium: 226mgIron: 1mg
Did You Make This Recipe?
Tag @TastesBetterFromScratch on Instagram with #TastesBetterFromScratch!
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
I originally shared this recipe December 2013. Updated September 2019.
I made this soup over the weekend and will make it again with some slight changes: 1/2 the amount of onion (or less) and I added Greek seasoning to taste. I found the original recipe to be lacking in flavor hence the Greek and overpowering in onion. I toasted parmesan bread with butter and additional Greek seasoning. Perfect paring!
We liked the soup, but I think next time I will skip the step of making the roux, and just add the milk to give it that creaminess. The flavor was great though.
Made this today when I was hankering for tomato soup. Delicious!
Question, can this be frozen? I was thinking of freezing individual portions in my vacuum seal bags so I can enjoy it at work for lunch.
So glad you loved it!! Yes, you can freeze it but it’s best frozen without the cream and shredded cheese. You can find instructions in the post on how to freeze it!
Made this recipe for my annual girls soup party and it was such a hit, that the left overs were my parting gift! So flavorful and paired well with a parmesan crustini!
This soup is excellent. Made it exactly as recipe states and it was perfection. Great flavor. My husband wanted a second bowl.
The roux ruined my soup. It tasted amazing until I added it to the roux. Wish I would have left it out 🙁 it’s completely unnecessary. However, the veggies puréed together was great. Would make again without the roux.
As with every recipe I have tried from Lauren, this soup was delicious! The depth of flavor is awesome and it’s not a difficult recipe. For those who had lumpy roux, you must keep adding soup to your roux until it is smooth, before adding into rest of soup.
I have been trying to replicate a “cheesy, tomato soup with zucchini that we used to enjoy at a favorite restaurant before they closed. This is the closest yet! I added the zucchini (sliced or chunked into bite size pieces), and a couple of splashes of dry red wine after the cream and cheese were blended and simmered a few minutes to soften the zucchini. Delish!
I’ve been sick for the last couple of days so I needed something with some good potassium and vitamin C kick! This soup is absolutely amazing. I added some smoked paprika, garlic, and chili powder along with the other seasonings to further invigorate the warmth of this soup. I couldn’t be happier with how this turned out. Thank you so much for sharing!